Change the future with ASU in Hawai‘i
A beacon of hope
With an ecosystem unlike any other, vast biodiversity and multiple climate zones, Hawai‘i is recognized throughout the world as an ideal locale and powerful collaborator to develop new pathways to sustainability.
Hawai‘i is home to more than a million people with deep cultural traditions, vast knowledge and plentiful natural resources. Acknowledging that scientific interest in Hawai‘i’s singularity and abundance has often done more harm than good, ASU sought to partner closely with the people and communities that call Hawai‘i home. Beyond the transformative research and positive local impact that this decade-long collaboration has enabled, it has also built trust in how science can be utilized by communities on their own terms. Our shared approach is holistic and leverages global insights and perspectives in order to truly develop impactful knowledge and skills. Together, we are positioned to take bold actions in addressing pressing problems.
“As home to one of the first sustainability schools in the country, it was a natural fit for ASU to see Hawai‘i as a guiding star for climate change initiatives, and we look to Hawai‘i as a place to learn from,” says Jody Kaulukukui, Executive Director of Advancement and Partnerships for ASU Foundation. “We work with local communities where we have been invited and use ASU’s scientific and technological innovation in partnership with these communities.”
Establishing collaborative partnerships in Hawai‘i strengthens our understanding of complex challenges in local communities and empowers our design and implementation of meaningful solutions.
Hawai‘i inspires and informs solutions for a more sustainable future.
‘lole, a nonprofit place-based research center and living scientific laboratory in Kohala on Hawai‘i Island, is developing high-impact solutions rooted in ancestral knowledge and Indigenous practices.
Partnering to address global challenges
In partnership with the people of Hawai‘i, ASU in Hawai‘i will help create a more thriving world for the continued benefit of all of Earth’s inhabitants. From crucial efforts to mitigate threats to the islands, oceans and marine life, to the educational access ASU is equipped to provide, to learning how Indigenous wisdom can help guide the best next steps for our planet, we are convening the people, knowledge and perspectives that will change the world. Now, as ASU in Hawai‘i has proven the power of its work in Hawai‘i and beyond, it is time to grow our impact.
Through Changing Futures®, our collaborative efforts will elevate our collective ability to develop sustainable solutions that stretch from Hawai‘i across the world.
Just as we benefit from the many lessons our partners in Hawai‘i share with us, we are committed to broadening access to more opportunities for learners statewide.
Expanding access and preserving natural wonders
The ‘Āko‘ako‘a Reef Restoration Program fuses cultural leadership, multi-modal education, advanced science, and government service to communities of corals and people on Hawai‘i Island.
‘Āko‘ako‘a Reef Restoration
The ‘Āko‘ako‘a Reef Restoration Program emerged from research and local initiatives for coral reef conservation. This 120mile reef, home to over 35 coral species, presents an opportunity for collaboration among cultural leaders, community stewards, advocates and innovators.
“The work that we do is unique in that it is a true integration of science, community and government that has affected major changes here, with some of that going out to other places in the world,” says Greg Asner, Director of the Center and Founder of the ‘Āko‘ako‘a Program. “The community focus is what makes ‘Āko‘ako‘a what it is.”
“We know this model works, and now is the time to grow it,” says Asner. “It’s not only urgent for our environment and communities—it is urgent that we deliver on our good intentions and the trust we have built here.”
Expanding educational access
ASU offers a growing number of opportunities for students from Hawai‘i to access education, whether from their homes, in Hawai‘i, at campuses in Arizona or other sites worldwide. Changing Futures will drive investment in collaborative learning.
Students from Hawai‘i are learning with ASU through hundreds of online degree programs and inperson attendance. ASU Prep Global serves K-12 students and educators, while ASU Local provides support in West Hawai‘i Island. Programs through the College of Global Futures and opportunities with the Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science connect learners to their communities’ health and resilience.
Learning to find our way together
The Polynesian Voyaging Society is rooted in the mindset of shared responsibility, and CEO Nainoa Thompson aims to share it with a world that could derive deep benefit from this approach. Based on the practical questions that dictate voyages — where you have been, where you need to go, and how you will get there — the Navigator Mindset is a template and a calling to consider the world and people around us when we make decisions.
One of PVS’ educational partners, ASU is committed to support its efforts to perpetuate the legacy of voyaging and help more people around the world experience its powerful message beyond Hawai‘i and the Pacific Ocean.
In Thompson’s words, “when people come together around common vision, they can accomplish great things. We need the instruments that pull our people together, not apart.”
Through voyaging, PVS hopes to inspire humanity to care for the earth by highlighting the vital importance of oceans, Indigenous knowledge, communities and education.
As an island community middle of the Pacific is one of the places by climate change
We have this opportunity the catalyst for the
community in the Pacific Ocean, Hawai‘i places most impacted and sea level rise. opportunity to be the future.
—Todd Apo CEO, ‘lole
Support ASU in Hawai‘i and shape a better future
By collaborating with local communities on identifying the most critical problems and finding innovative solutions together, ASU in Hawai‘i makes a meaningful difference of local and global proportions. ASU in Hawai‘i is an expression of our commitment to changing futures. It derives from the charter that guides all of our efforts to include rather than exclude and deliver on our responsibility to the communities we serve.
Join us as we build a thriving future for Hawai‘i and for the planet we all call home.
Your support for Changing Futures strengthens the many educational and environmental efforts of ASU in Hawai‘i.
Change futures by supporting
Reshape our relationship with the planet
‘lole is an ahupua‘a – an ancient division of land stretching from the mountains to the sea, located in Kohala, Hawai‘i. It is a 2,400acre collaborative nonprofit research center and living laboratory that unites academic experts, Native Hawaiian practitioners and community leaders to develop sustainable solutions. Focusing on energy security, food security and place-based learning, ‘lole develops scalable, global models for sustainable living and prosperity.
Global challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss require new decisionmaking approaches that emphasize collective action and shared responsibility among communities and the environments they reside in. The Polynesian Voyaging Society, in partnership with ASU, promotes the “Navigator Mindset” to educate 100 million navigators, empowering individuals worldwide to act locally and collaboratively toward sustainable futures.
The ‘Āko‘ako‘a Reef Restoration Program addresses the severe impact of development, overfishing and climate change on Hawai‘i’s coral reefs. Combining cultural leadership, education, science and government support, the program restores reefs, enhances marine ecosystems and helps to strengthen coastal communities.
Transform global education
In partnership with Kamehameha Schools, ASU has launched a West Hawai‘i site offering accessible bachelor’s degree programs. The ASU Local experience supports first-year and transfer students with personalized coaching, flexible online majors and a close-knit community. This hub promotes student success through interactive learning and engagement in a vibrant environment.
ASU Prep Global will enhance academic achievement by creating innovative learning models accessible to all. Goals in Hawai‘i include establishing a hybrid micro school in a rural community, offering scholarships for the ASU Prep at Khan World School — ASU Prep’s newest school model online — and providing modern learning credentials to local educators.
ASU in Hawai‘i
Empower
community resilience
The Hawaiian Islands face complex challenges in freshwater management, food systems, transportation, land development, and biodiversity conservation. Effective decision-making requires collaboration across diverse stakeholders, yet achieving consensus can be difficult.
Decision Theater bridges this gap using computational models and community engagement to support collaborative decision-making. By uniting policymakers, researchers, and community leaders, Decision Theater fosters informed discussions that explore the outcomes of policy choices, ensuring decisionmaking is data-driven, inclusive, and mindful of impacts. Through Changing Futures, we will scale this proven model in Hawai‘i and beyond.
‘lole is one of many giving opportunities featured in the Changing Futures campaign.
About us
Establishing collaborative and creative partnerships in Hawai‘i with those who share our institutional commitment to environmental and cultural resilience strengthens our understanding of complex challenges and empowers our design and implementation of meaningful solutions.
ASU Charter
ASU is a comprehensive public research university, measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed; advancing research and discovery of public value; and assuming fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural and overall health of the communities it serves.